


Hospital

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Series: Anderperry Week 2014 [5]
Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Anachronistic, Archived From Tumblr, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dating, Dehydration, Established Relationship, Exhaustion, Fluff, Hospitalization, Hospitals, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Poetry, Poetry as Medicine, Sleep, that tag is ridiculous i Apologise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 12:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: He was diagnosed with exhaustion and dehydration… Hence the IV.He’d been there for two days, and he was bored out of his mind. No one had been able to come visit him, but now that it was Friday evening, he had a hope that someone would come to pull him out of this stupor he’d fallen into.When the door opened, Todd looked up in a bored sort of way, expecting one of the doctors or nurses. What he didn’t expect was Neil walking in behind a nurse, and he automatically tried to sit up a little more, his face breaking into a grin.





	Hospital

**Author's Note:**

> Anderperry Week 2014: Day Six. Hospital.

Todd Anderson hated hospitals. The stark whiteness, the nurses looking at you like you were broken, the doctors talking to you like you were five. He hated hospitals, and he didn’t think that was ever going to change.

When he was four, he’d fractured his wrist. It had been his brother’s fault, but his parents never blamed his brother for anything. It was always Todd’s fault. So when he ran into the house, crying and hollering and holding his wrist to his chest, his parents had tutted and taken him to the emergency room, where they gave him a stark white cast that his parents firmly told him to keep clean, lest he dirty it and the fracture got infected. He was sure that was where his hatred of hospitals stemmed from.

When he’d been seven, Todd had gotten ahold of some sort of sickness, and it had seemed normal at first, but the fever was high, and it wouldn’t break. When it had been at a critical level for four hours, and his parents had tried everything, they’d rushed him to the hospital, and he’d ended up staying there for two days while they ran tests on him and tried to break his fever. He’d ended up fine, but it simply worked to cement his hatred further.

When he was thirteen, he’d gotten a particularly nasty cut over his forehead –some idiots at school decided they didn’t appreciate his ‘smart ass comments’, when in reality, it was the first thing he’d said in class all year. So they beat him up. The gash on his forehead had required stitches, and he’d had to go in twice: Once to get the stitches in, and once to get them out.

Hospitals weren’t associated with anything pleasant, that was for sure.

And now, here he was, lying in a hospital bed once again with his head aching and an IV in his arm. He’d passed out in one of his classes –thankfully someone had noticed him swaying and caught him before he fell– and had been checked out by the nurse before getting rushed to the hospital to be looked at further. He was diagnosed with exhaustion and dehydration… Hence the IV.

He’d been there for two days, for 'observation’, and he was bored out of his mind. No one had been able to come visit him, but now that it was Friday evening, he had a hope that  _someone_  would come to pull him out of this stupor he’d fallen into.

When the door opened, Todd looked up in a bored sort of way, expecting one of the doctors or nurses. What he didn’t expect was Neil walking in behind a nurse, and he automatically tried to sit up a little more, his face breaking into a grin.

“Hey, Todd,” Neil said, and was immediately at his side, earning a wary look from the nurse before she checked the IV. She told Todd to make sure not to move too much, and then walked out with another warning glance at Neil. Neil only chuckled after she’d left, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed and reaching for Todd’s IV-less hand. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” Todd said, shrugging a little. His voice was scratchy, and he cleared his throat, glancing towards the pitcher of water on the table nearby. Neil took the hint, and picked up the cup sitting next to it, bringing it carefully to Todd’s lips so he could drink.

“Thanks,” he said when he was done, and Neil only nodded, putting the cup down again. “How are things at school?”

“Same as always. Hellton remains a hell.” Neil squeezed his hand gently, and Todd returned it, closing his eyes. He could deal with the hospital a little better if Neil was there. Neil seemed to notice his expression, though, and he frowned a little.

“You sure you’re okay?”

Todd let his eyes flutter open again to meet Neil’s concerned gaze. “I’m okay… Don’t like hospitals much,” he admitted, and Neil’s expression changed from confused to understanding.

“Oh. Makes sense.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of Todd’s hand for a bit, and silence fell until Neil grinned suddenly. Todd looked apprehensive.

“…What?”

Neil looked excited. “I thought of a poem… I read it a week ago, I remember part of it… It was about a hospital.”

Despite himself, Todd’s interest was peaked. “You remember part of it?” he asked cautiously, and Neil grinned at him even wider than he had before.

“Yeah, hang on…” He thought for a moment, and then let go of his hand and jumped up, so he could do it dramatically. “I don’t remember the first few lines… It was something about how boring hospitals were, I think. And then it goes:

_Leafless air and plastic light_

_intrusions through a starless night_

_mechanics of the flesh intend_

_to find a way to winter’s end._

_Outside, a bold October sky_

_sweet breath of fall is passing by–”_

Neil paused there, and frowned. “There’s more, I don’t… I can’t remember the next couple, either. Something about the sky and leaves and October. The last lines were really good, though.” He grinned, and finished dramatically:

_“Yet, I find I’m ever vexed_

_and endless, comtemplate what’s next.”_

Todd grinned and whistled a little as Neil bowed, and smiled even more genuinely as his hand was taken again when Neil sat back down. “I liked it,” he said.

“I knew you would.” Neil grinned at him for a minute, and then pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. Todd blushed. They’d only been officially  _together_  for a few weeks, and the little affectionate gestures were still new. And he found them absolutely adorable.

After a few minutes, Todd yawned, though he tried his best to stifle it. Neil instantly started to get up. “I should go, you’re tired–”

“No!” Todd flushed even more as the word flung itself from his lips. “I mean… Don’t. Please. I don’t… I don’t like to be alone in here. It’s too quiet. Stay as long as you can… Please?”

Neil didn’t hesitate to nod. “Okay. I won’t leave you, Todd, don’t worry.” He smiled, and took a seat on the bed instead of the chair, even as Todd shifted over to make room for him.

And if the nurse came back to find a hospitalised young man’s head on that young miscreant’s lap, well… She wouldn’t say anything about it. After all, Todd did need to sleep… And this looked to be the best he’d slept in the two days since he’d gotten there.

**Author's Note:**

> The poem I used in this story has since been taken offline, but the [author](https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=20707) is still online. 
> 
> Archived from my tumblr circa 2014. Kudos/comments are love.
> 
> Tumblr: deathishauntedbyhumans


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